New Girl: Through the Looking Glass
by smilejem
Summary: My favorite moments of New Girl revisited with a twist. If you read my entry for Maylala's Prom Contest, then you have a hint of what is to come.
1. Chapter 1: Prolouge

Prologue: Sadie gives Jess the idea for the apartment

"Cece, you know I love you. And the last week has been like a throw back to old school slumber parties. But…" Jess took a sip of the liquid courage floating over the ice in her glass, "… I'm having a really hard time with all the models! I need to find my own place stat." Her voice got louder at the end than she had intended it too. She had been holding on to those words for the past few days, just waiting for the right opportunity.

"I agree it has been tight quarters, and you do need to start moving on and all, but Jess they're not THAT bad. They are my friends." Cece said at first rubbing her friend's shoulder in a supportive best friend way, and then almost simultaneously pulling away and looking offended in a harmless, yet intimidating way that only Cece could pull off.

"And we are your friends too Cece. But I'm with Jess on this one. They may all be hot or whatever but they can definitely lack in the conversation department." Sadie chimed in as the third person at the table, taking on the role of referee, as she sometimes had to do when Cece got defensive about her _model_ friends, and so she got the conversation back on track. "Now Jess, I have been thinking about your situation and the best way to close out the chapter that was 'the Spencer years'. I have been putting out the feelers for apartments for rent and I think I found one that you should look into."

Both Jess and Cece leaned further into the table looking intrigued. It had been so hard to find a good place in LA and they had both been looking everywhere. "Okay shoot partner, I'm all ears" said Jess in her old timey voice that was so uniquely hers.

"It's actually a place that belongs to an ex of an ex of mine. They posted it online a few weeks ago, but they have only had real weirdos so far. Apparently there was even some guy who showed up to interview with all his stuff, including a box with air holes that was making the strangest sounds." Sadie shuddered at the thought of the memory of the story.

"Get to the point, Sadie. We want the details. Who is this girl and where is the place?" Cece took the next round of drinks of the waiter's tray with a small 'thank you' wink and wave towards the guys a few tables down who had apparently bought them this round, almost without missing a beat.

"Well she dated my ex Julia for a while, remember Julia the lawyer?"

"Oh you mean the callous bitch who you dated for a few months last year and who never liked Jess?"

"What?! What do you mean she NEVER liked me?" Jess almost spit out her drink at Cece's nonchalant way of a description and stared wide eyed from Sadie to Cece and back to Sadie.

"It's not that she didn't like you as a person Jess. She just didn't understand you. She didn't get you like we do. Julia had just never met a legitimately nice, honest and wonderful person like you. She has always had a chip on her shoulder, that's why it didn't last with us." Jess seemed to be comforted by this and retreated back to her drink, letting her straw find its way back to her mouth. "Anyway, after me, she started dating Nicole. It didn't last for them either, not really sure why, I think Julia said she was 'too clingy'. Which I don't really get because to Julia if the person at the coffee shop remembers your order, she thought that was too 'stalky'. Man that used to really bother me. Why did we ever stay together for so long?" Sadie had started rambling to herself they way most people do when they look back on a relationship with crystal clear hindsight.

"Because you said the sex was AMAZING. Now back to the apartment. What's it like?" Cece was very direct.

"I can't believe she never liked me and you never told me." Though she said it more to herself than to Sadie, it was really starting to bother Jess that this woman who her friend dated for just a few months, over a year ago didn't get her.

"That's right! She did that thing with her thumb and her tongue that just…" Sadie started staring off, her words more and more to just herself, lost in the memory.

"Jess, don't sweat it. If I ever see her again I'll be sure to kick her ass. Now Sadie, what's the deal with the apartment? Apparently Jess needs to move out _stat_" Cece said the last word with bunny rabbit ear quotation marks in the air and a wink and a nudge at Jess that had a way of making Jess smile, knowing her friend truly had her back.

"Sadie! Earth to Sadie." Cece snapped her fingers in front of Sadie's face.

"Right. Sorry. Let me look at the info from Julia." Sadie shook it off and got out her phone and scanned through it. "It's a four bedroom loft style apartment. She lives with two guy friends. An old college friend, some real metrosexual guy that uses more hair product than any other straight man who has ever lived, and a childhood friend from Chicago, who used to play pro basket ball, or something. Apparently it's a great space with old school rent control and so it's really cheap. On Facebook Julia wrote that she almost stayed with Nicole despite the 'clingyness' because of how awesome the apartment was."

"So I would potentially be living with a lesbian ex of an ex of yours and two straight men." Jess just looked at both Cece and Sadie slack jawed waiting for them to support how silly it all seemed.

"I don't know Jess. It can't hurt to schedule a time to check the place out in person. Who knows, one of the straight guys might be cute." Cece gave Jess the same wink and nudge from earlier.

"Okay," Jess said throwing her hands up exacerbated. "Give me Nicole's number and I'll see what it's all about. But honestly it sounds like a sitcom waiting to happen."

"Oh, and Julia said she goes by Nic."


	2. Chapter 2 : Jess Moves In

Episode 1: Jess moves in

"Thanks for being able to ALL meet with me. At once. Like a firing squad." Jess sat nervously on the small ottoman and stared across at the three friends sitting all squished together on the same section of the L shaped brown leather couch. She raised both hands sheepishly and said in a cartoon voice, which was supposed to mimic someone from the old west actually about to face a firing squad, "I swear sonny, I'm innocent, I was framed." They looked at her confused and in silence for a beat. The one in the dress suit spoke first.

"So, I would like to begin with a set of scientifically derived questions on compatibility…" Schmidt started to pull what looked like a small novel out of his briefcase which had been on the floor by his feet, when he was cut off by the other two interviewers and their rolling eyes.

"Schmidt, not the E Harmony questions AGAIN!" Nic said elbowing him in the ribs and smacking the papers out of his hand. "I am sorry about him." She said that directly to Jess and made an apologetic shrug, a gesture which seemed second nature. "We're trying to get him enrolled in special classes". She gave Jess a sour look that made Jess swear she thought it might have contained the slightest hint of a smile.

"Let's start over. My name is Winston. This schmuck is Nicole. And the one who was about to put you through a SAT like testing experience, was Schmidt." Winston was the first to actually reach out his hand and shake hello. He had a nice and genuine smile.

"They were scientifically derived…" Schmidt voiced defensively and then seemed to sulk back in his spot on the couch. He added more quietly to himself, "You can't mess with science."

"Actually I go by Nic. Just Nic. Nicole was my aunt and it has just always sounded weird. So, you know Julia?"

"Yeah. Julia dated my good friend Sadie. Julia. Jules. The Julester." Jess looked like she wanted someone to stop her before she just kept going, saying names in a deep voice like Ron Synder in an SNL skit.

"If you're friends with Sadie… Are you… I mean… Do you ever go out to… You know… the same bars, as she…" Nic was so awkward it was adorable. She had tried to save Jess from an awkward rant, and now Jess guessed it was her turn to return the favor.

"A lesbian? No, I'm not. I just have friends that are."

Schmidt breathed a dramatic sigh of relief. "Phew! Good. No chance for another Caroline here." Nic one again elbowed Schmidt in the ribs, but this timed it seemed harder and more personal. "Just saying Nic, you and your unfathomable lesbian sex musk ruined things with our last female roommate."

"Lesbian sex musk?! Really Schmidt? Jar!" Winston pointed in the direction of a glass mason jar with a post-it note reading "Douche Bag Jar" and cash stuffed inside.

Nic chimed in over Winston, "And Caroline was your idea in the first place Schmidt. '_Hey guys I have a co-worker who needs a place to crash for a bit. It's okay if she takes Coach's old room, right?_'" Nic's attempt at impersonating Schmidt sounded like a grumpy whiny man-child. Plus she made a weird frowning turtle face while doing it. It was just weird. "It's not my fault we shared a magic, spiritual like connection that tore my heart into a million pieces."

"Schmidt. Why would you even bring it up? She just stopped listening to _that_ song." Winston was trying to say it quietly so that Nic, sitting right between him and Schmidt, couldn't hear.

"Winston! I am sitting right here. You can't talk about someone like that when they are sitting right here." Nic looked directly at Jess, "They are totally exaggerating. I am totally recovered, by the way, and there is absolutely nothing weird about it." Nic gave the same apologetic shrug from earlier. It was the first time anyone even looked at her during their roommate banter.

Jess just smiled as they continued arguing about who's fault it was that they needed a new roommate in the first place. She got the impression that these were good friends with quirks and weirdness that could rival her own. These were obviously three good-hearted, all-be-it possibly emotionally stunted, people she felt immediately comfortable with. She looked around the loft and saw the sunlight shinning through the large industrial windows along the two walls of the living/dinning room and she breathed deep. She started singing to herself, that's how comfortable she felt.

"The sun will come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow…"

Winston was the first to hear it and he just stopped himself mid sentence to listen in wide-eyed wonder.

"I'm sorry, but are you singing?" Nic was the first to comment.

"Yeah. I do that when I am happy. Or when I'm sad. Or when I'm anxious. Really, I just do it a lot."

"So what are you right now? Happy, sad, or anxious?" Winston seemed genuinely interested, but also a bit confused.

"Happy." She smiled, "Happy" she repeated in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah no way _that's_ going to get annoying." Schmidt said trying to be overly sarcastic. "You know its stuff like this that my scientific questionnaire would have alerted us to…"

"Schmidt you're annoying. When could you move in? We already know you have a stable job and you were referred by a friend of a friend. So you're most likely not a total weirdo. All though I guess it was an ex of an ex, so maybe…" Nic offered and almost winked.

"Well I'm staying with my friend on her couch right now, so I am basically already packed. The place has been getting really crowded lately. Models surprisingly take up a lot of space for how skinny they all are. But…"

Schmidt cut off Jess mid sentence, "Models? Did you say models? Would these be Lesbian models? Because they are my favorite kind of model."

"Jar!" This time everyone pointed at the glass jar in unison. Jess smiled again, knowing she was going to be the new girl in their odd family.


	3. Chapter 3: The Wedding

Episode 2: Jess pretends to be Nic's date to Caroline's wedding

"I just think it is a dumb idea to let her go. I just feel like we started getting our lives back together after picking up the pieces, from the last time." Winston said as Schmidt was configuring Winston's tie, "Plus… I mean are there going to be ANY dudes there?"

"At a lesbian wedding? Winston! How culturally insensitive of you." Schmidt rolled his eyes, "of course there will be other people with working man parts. Just because they are gay, doesn't men they don't know men." Then he giggled mostly to himself, "Just not the right men. Am I right…?"

Winston was just about to reference the douche bag jar, when Nic walked into the kitchen area timidly, looking very debonair in a form fitting suit made up of light gray dress pants, a white button down with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a slightly darker gray vest and a pale pink and blue pasley tie, which was slightly loosened around the neck. She was always great at suiting up and walking the androdengy line. "Well… what do you guys think?" She paused and looked up at them with her head still faced downward.

"Girl, why is it you look better in a suit than I do?!" Winston went over and patted her on the back.

"And I don't know why you don't put that much energy into your hair on a regular basis. It actually rivals mine. It's like you took notes or something." Schmidt said with a proud papa bear smile on his face as he walked over to more closely inspect the producted, pixie-cut, amber hair do that seemed both soft and spikey all at the same time. It was such a change from the normal, relaxed, almost bed heady hairstyle she normally sported when it wasn't under one hat or another.

"I do listen to you sometimes Schmidt." Nic's posture started to rise as she listened to her friend's confidence boosting comments. In truth she new she looked good, but this was her most recent ex's _wedding_! She had gotten so hyper critical looking in the mirror ten thousand times trying on different ties and vests, that she had started going down to a dark place. She needed her best friends for this and she was so glad they had also been invited. Caroline had been a big part of their lives too as she did live with them all, though once the break up happened and she moved out, Schmidt and Winston stayed on team Nic, as they should have. "Is Jess ready?" Nic was planning on taking Jess as her plus one, because who wants to go to their ex's wedding stag?!

"She has been hogging the mirror in the bathroom for ever. And coming from me, that's saying something." Schmidt had moved onto the couch to check his phone and wait.

Just then, as if on cue, Jess came around the divider from the hallway into the living room. "I'm right here. You said ready by 1 o'clock right?" Nic actually noticed it got hard to swallow for a second. It was hard to believe this was the same goofy girl who had moved in only a few weeks ago and normally wore giant black rimmed glasses, oversized pajamas, and big print polka dot skirts over thick black tights with brightly colored cardigans. Now she stood before them wearing a purple dress with a sleeveless form fitting top and a skirt that had just enough subtle flare to still make it a very _Jess_ dress. Her glasses were gone, making it unmistakably clear how bright blue and big her eyes were. And between her hair being pulled up and her bare shoulders, her skin seemed softer than it ever had before. Come to think of it, Nic realized he had never seen her with so much bare skin before.

"Now that is the perfect look to accompany such a shinny sexy star that is our very own Nicole Miller to her horrible ex's wedding." Schmidt had gotten off the couch as soon as Jess walked in. "I knew we let you move in for a reason."

"I thought that reason was because you want to get it on with all my model friends." Jess nudged Schmidt playfully and winked at him in an overly cartoony and goofy way that helped bring Nic back to reality.

"That's still the plan little Jessica. Still the plan." Schmidt was mimicking a comic book villain, though probably not intentionally.

"You do look great though Jess. Seriously, no offense, but I didn't know you had this in you." Winston added his two cents. "You make the perfect pretend date for Nic."

Jess looked away from the guys and looked over at Nic who was still standing in the same spot she had been in since Jess entered the space. She really looked at her for the first time and took a deep breath. It was quite a transformation from the normal t shirt, jeans, and stereotypical flannel. In truth, at first Jess though the flannel was a joke as it was so lesbian cliché, but over the last several weeks, she started to feel like those few shirts were like a security blanket for Nic, a protection from the rest of the world. Now here she was clean cut, standing taller, broader shoulders, just the right amount of curves and strength.

"You can really rock a suit. I think I get the whole _butch_ appeal. How 'bout we go make Caroline jealous and want to leave her wife." Jess walked over to Nic with a big smile on her face and linked their arms.

"Just don't get any ideas you too. This is pretend! We all signed the roommate agreement together. No inter-loftmate hankey-pankey! Unless it can be parlayed into a business that benefits for all parties involved. We have learned from the past that the loft dynamic is sacred."

"Schmidt! Yes, we get it. Don't worry. It's just a pretend date." Nic squeezed Jess' arm in hers and smiled patronizingly at Schmidt, like only two people who have known each other for practically a decade can do. Then into Jess' ear she whispered softly, "I'm sorry he made you sign that, we should have stopped him, but one thing about Schmidt is it that you just learn to put up with a lot of things."

Jess giggled both at the words and at how Nic's voice so close to her ear almost tickled her to the core.

"Let's get going. I'm driving cuz there is an open bar and there is no way I can let myself get too drunk. Remember Coach's birthday party with the open bar last month?" Winston said as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door. "Those damn umbrella drinks."

"Yeah, you drank way too many of those fruity drinks and shit just got weird." Nic added with the biggest smile on her face that Jess had seen over the last few weeks. They all headed out the door and towards the elevator, laughing as they filled Jess in on the hysterics that ensue each time Winston is around an open bar and fruity drinks. Jess had the thought as she was the last one out and closed the apartment door, 'This is happening. I am going on my first lesbian date (_pretend_ date that is) to a wedding no less, with three people that were complete strangers a month ago. Life is crazy.'


End file.
